Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will strike a conciliatory tone when she talks about China-US relations on Thursday, calling for “cooperation on the urgent global challenges of our day”.

“We seek a healthy economic relationship with China: one that fosters growth and innovation in both countries,” Yellen says in prepared remarks to be delivered at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies in Washington.

Yellen plans to deliver a speech that calls for improved relations between the two countries.

“A growing China that plays by international rules is good for the United States and the world," Yellen says. “Both countries can benefit from healthy competition in the economic sphere.

“But healthy economic competition – where both sides benefit – is only sustainable if that competition is fair."

President Xi Jinping previously slammed the United States for leading an effort to contain and suppress China.

Beijing's technology ambitions have been hit with restrictions by the United States and its allies, and mainland authorities have doubled down on the need to move away from imports for sectors seen as key to national security, such as semiconductors.

Foreign Minister Qin Gang has also accused Washington of stoking tensions between both powers, warning of "conflict and confrontation". (AP/AFP)